


Be Real With Me

by joji_is_trash



Category: Dexter (TV)
Genre: Bisexual James Doakes, Brian Moser is Touch Starved, Brian Moser is Touchy-Feely, Brian tries his best, Debra Morgan is a Bad Sister, Demisexual Dexter Morgan, Dexter is clueless but its cute, Hurt Brian Moser, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Tired Debra Morgan, at least to brian it is, it was the 80s so, the people at the mental institute weren't nice to my boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24544480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joji_is_trash/pseuds/joji_is_trash
Summary: When Brian visits Dexter in his apartment for the first time, he decides he needs to take a different path to get closer to his brother.akaI’m so tired of how season one ended that I’ve decided to rewrite how Dexter found out about Brian entirely, starting with the apartment scene.
Relationships: Dexter Morgan/Brian Moser, Rita Bennett/Dexter Morgan, Rudy Cooper/Dexter Morgan
Comments: 13
Kudos: 92





	Be Real With Me

**Author's Note:**

> ughhh im popping out too many of these but i already have the next two chapters of this planned out- beware the tags.

Dexter was just finishing up some “research” on his computer when he heard a knock at the door. Looking out the window, he spotted Rudy Cooper in all his glory. Even from a short side view, he could see the man was nervous about something, tense. Dexter worried that he would have to deal with emotions- how disgusting. 

When he opened the door, he was greeted with an awkward smile. “Hey!” Rudy was holding something- a bag full of groceries? 

Dexter didn’t have time for pleasantries, he wanted to get whatever this was over with. 

“Hey.” Dexter held in his glare. He wondered if he started glaring at the man, and glared hard enough, if he would just go away. It’s worked before- but Rudy was talking again. 

“So, Deb’s pissed at me. I need advice,” Rudy made a point to sound desperate, and it made Dexter all the more willing to want to shut the door on him. 

“And you came here?” Maybe it wasn’t too late to start glaring after all. 

“You- you know her better than anyone,” Dexter nodded but didn’t reply. He was going to need more than that for him to open his door to his sister’s boyfriend. “Oh, come on. I got two porterhouses and a sixer of microbrew.” 

“...” This was unfair. He couldn’t turn down free beer. “Come in.” 

Rudy smiled, all nervousness seeming to have vanished, and walked in. Soon, Rudy had the porterhouse laid out and was searching for a knife. 

Dexter didn’t know if he should be annoyed at the fact that Rudy was taking over his kitchen like he owned it or thankful that he didn’t have to do anything. 

“So one minute we were talking about her day- y’know, the whole bloodbath thing?” Dexter cringed at the mention of it but nodded. “Then, all of the sudden, she wants to jump my bones!” 

Dexter didn’t know if he was comfortable with where this conversation was going. 

“And of course I wasn’t in the mood, we had just talked about a room covered in multiple peoples’ blood! But she got all upset over it,” Rudy sighed. He was still looking for a knife. 

“You need help with something?” Dexter offered. 

“Yeah, do you have any good meat knives?” Dexter stood up and opened the drawer nearest to himself. He handed Rudy the knife (not without thinking of all the scenarios in which Rudy decided to stab him, first- he knew he had nothing to worry about, but _killer instincts_ and all that).

“Thanks,” Rudy got back to work. “I can’t really blame her for getting mad, though, I guess.” 

“Oh?” Dexter tried his best to sound interested, he really did, but it was hard to when the whole conversation revolved around Rudy not wanting to fuck his sister. 

“Yeah.. I mean, she’s hot and all but.. I’m worried she’s just not doing it for me,” Dexter almost spat out his beer. Out of all the ways this conversation could have gone, he didn’t expect this. 

“Sorry, what?” Immediately after that question left his mouth, he regretted it. ‘ _Why would you ask that? Do you_ want _him to go on about not getting hard for your sister?_ ’ 

“Sorry, you probably don’t want to hear about that,” Rudy seems embarrassed. 

“Yeah, probably not,” Dexter grumbles and takes a swig from his beer. 

“I just..” Rudy goes on despite the building tension. “I’m not sure if she’s who I want to be with.” He says this with hesitation but his actions are anything but hesitant. He seems so nonchalant as he puts chunks of meat on in a skillet to cook. It’s off putting, but Dexter doesn’t catch it as he tries to come up with something to say. 

“Hmm.” Just then, Rudy’s phone rings. Saved by the bell- ‘ _thank god._ ’

“It’s her. Sorry, I gotta take this.” 

“Go ahead,” Dexter says as Rudy is already closing his front door. He debates locking him outside, but he can’t do that. He needs to keep up his reputation as good Dexter, reliable Dexter, but it’s times like these where he wishes he could be the real Dexter. 

\-----

Brian knew he had to drop his old plan as soon as he entered his brother's apartment. There was no way he could pass up the opportunity to drop Debra for Dexter. He was so close to telling Dexter the truth- or at least, part of the truth, and of course Debra _had_ to interrupt him before he could. 

“Hey. Where are you?” Brian asks as he answers the call. ‘ _Gotta find a way to make her dump me, and soon, if this is the path I want to take._ ’ 

“Still at work, chasing a lead,” Debra answers, voice muffled through the phone. 

“Let me guess- the bloodbath case,” Brian is brought back to when he poured the blood of all his victims onto the walls of the cheap motel room. It was fun, using a chainsaw to imitate his own childhood, and he almost just wanted to go crazy with it, but he had to remember that it was for Dexter. He was sending a message. He could have fun, hopefully with his baby brother in tow, later. 

“I don’t wanna talk shop right now,” Debra sighs through the phone and Brian is snapped back to reality. He’s not prepared for Debra’s next words. “Baby, I am so sorry. You were totally right. I was mad at Dexter and I took it all out on you.”

Brian wished only to cut her up once those words left her mouth. How dare she- a liar, a fake sister- be mad at Dexter, who had done nothing wrong? She had no right, no right at all-

“My shift’s almost done. You want to come over and talk?” Debra continued. 

Brian tried his best to be convincing, but despite his decades of perfecting his mask, it came out cold when he said, “I’d love to, but I’m having dinner with Dexter, right now.” He could feel Deb’s smile fade through the phone and, if he weren’t a tad emotionless, he would have felt very happy at this accomplishment. 

“Well, after.” Debra’s tone held no question, but Brian wasn’t having that. He wasn’t one to be pushed around. He pushed back. 

“Yeah, but here’s the thing,” his tone sounded reluctant but he was smirking. God, he wished he could see her face. “I think I’m going to crash at Dexter’s, instead. See, I’ve been drinking, and it’s better if I don’t drive tonight.” To add on to hurt he hoped he was causing, he asked, “You understand, right?”

She was silent for a moment. “Yeah. Right.” 

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Brian says, and he’s about to hang up when Debra shouts, “Wait!”

“Yeah?”

“I just.. I need you to tell me something. And I need you to be honest.” Brian hated both of those sentences whole heartedly. 

“Okay. What is it?”

“Rudy.. are you gay?” ‘Yes. Yes, very much so. For my own brother, I might add.’ Instead of saying this, he gives Deb the same small bit of silence she gave him. He’s found it adds a certain dramatic effect to what you’re about to say. 

“I.. I’ve been trying to work up to telling you but..” He trailed off. 

“Oh my god.” Debra gasped. “I thought- oh my god, Rudy, what the fuck!” 

“Sorry, Deb, I really thought I was into you but-” 

“It’s Dexter, isn’t it?” Brain knew what she meant, but it would be weird for him to not be caught off guard by that, right?

“I- sorry, what?” 

“You’re not into me.. You’re into my brother..” Debra seemed horrified. Brian wondered if she may be a tad bit homophobic. He hoped so. It would help him drag Debra away from his brother. What tears apart a family better than a homophobe?

“Perhaps..” Brian muttered. 

“We’re done, Rudy. We’re so fucking done.” Debra sounded close to tears. He hoped she would cry after this.

“Okay.” 

“Okay?! That’s all you have to say? Okay?!” She was getting hysterical. 

“Deb, calm down.” 

“Don’t tell me to calm down! Were you going to tell him tonight? Is that why you’re there? You know he has a girlfriend, right? Rita, and the kids,” Debra cries. 

“I- yes, I know. I realize he’ll probably turn me down but-”

“ _Probably_? He’ll _definitely_ turn you down. He’s a good man, better than you are! _Fuck you_ , Rudy Cooper!” Brian didn’t get time to respond, as she had rudely decided to just hang up. 

He put his cell back inside his pocket, and frowned- but it was just for show. In his mind, he was smiling. He would show her. Dexter will love him, he knows it-

His train of thought is interrupted by Dexter himself peeking his head out of the door. “Everything alright out here?” 

“Yeah.” Rudy sighs, and tries to look sad. “We broke up, just now.” 

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh.’” Rudy rubs his face as he reenters the apartment. 

“What happened?” Dexter asks- and Brian can tell that he’s wondering if he should kick him out. Poor Dexter. If only he knew what Brian truly was, then he would never want him to leave. But telling him wasn’t that simple- he couldn’t just do that. 

Rudy finds a plate of cooked steak, cut up into perfect sizes, and grabs it. ‘ _Was I really talking to her for that long?_ ’ Brian wonders. He feels bad for having left his brother alone for that long. 

“Mind if we sit down before I explain?” Brian asks, but he’s already heading to the couch. Best to make it harder for Dexter to kick him out so soon. Wouldn’t want to botch this. He’s already risked so much for Dexter, and he’s lost his last lifeline- Debra. He needed to do this carefully. 

Rudy sighs as Dexter sits next to him. He notices the way Dexter anxiously places his own plate of steak on the coffee table. He’s worried about something- and Brian is frustrated that he doesn’t know exactly what. 

“So.. I told her I was gay.”

Dexter snickered, “That’s a good way to get a girl to break up with you.” Brian found himself laughing with him. 

“Yeah, I know..”

“I sense a ‘but’?” Dexter inquired. 

“ _But_ , there’s something I have to tell you.” 

“Hmm. What is it?” 

“Dexter, it was you.” Brian shouldn’t have the capacity to feel as nervous as he does, but it doesn’t stop him. This is the big moment. 

“Me? What about me?” Dexter looked so confused and Brian wanted nothing more than to kiss that look off of his face.

“You made me realize that I’m gay.” When Dexter didn’t reply, he went on. “I like you, Dex.” 

“...”

“...”

“Oh.”

**Author's Note:**

> pLEASE. leave a review. i'm dying without them :'( or leave a kudos if you enjoyed!!


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